Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system housings, and more particularly to an information handling system housing heat spreader.
Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Portable information handling systems are built in housings designed to have minimal footprint. Tablet information handling systems are one type of portable information handling system in which a planar housing integrates a touch screen that acts as the primary input/output (I/O) device. Relatively small tablets provide convenient reading devices and handle simple tasks on-the-go, such as web browsing and e-mail. Smartphones are an example of a small tablet that also provides mobile telephone communications. Portable information handling systems that handle more intensive computing operations, such as word processing, graphics design, spread sheet analysis, etc. . . . , typically have a housing with an integrated keyboard and a greater size that allows room to contain more powerful processing components. Generally, as processing capability increases housing size for containing processing components also tends to increase. Users generally weigh convenience associated with smaller housings against processing capabilities associated with larger housings when selecting an information handling system.
One constraint on the use of powerful components in a housing is the amount of heat that the components generate as a byproduct of electrical power consumption. Central processing units (CPUs) provide an example of this since greater processing speeds tend to consume greater power and, as a result, release greater amounts of heat as a byproduct. Heat generated by a CPU can cause failure of an information handling system due to excessive internal temperatures unless the heat escapes the housing. In addition, heat concentrated around the location of a CPU or other heat-generating component can cause discomfort to end users who touch the housing near the position of the CPU.
One reason for the use of a larger housing with more powerful components is that a larger housing generally allows the use of active heat dissipation to remove heat from within the housing. A common active heat dissipation system is an internal cooling fan that blows a cooling airflow over heated components to help remove thermal energy. Passive heat dissipation, such as heat pipes and heat sinks, generally does not transfer thermal energy out of a housing as effectively as active heat dissipation. Thus, information handling system designers often face difficult constraints when attempting to build portable information handling systems that provide adequate management of excess thermal energy. Thin form factor information handling systems that lack adequate room for active heat dissipation systems, such as cooling fans, tend to have CPUs and other processing components with less robust processing capabilities so that internal and external housing temperatures will not exceed safe limits.